Dare
by The Candlestick Maker
Summary: On a dare, Bianca kisses Katie Matlin without telling her why.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** On a dare, Bianca kisses Katie Matlin without telling her why.

**Author's Note:** Honestly, I just recently started shipping these two and couldn't find a whole lot of fics about them (there should be more). So, oneshot?

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**Dare**

"_What_?" Bianca practically hissed the single syllable question at the hockey player's face, waiting for his stupid grin to falter. It didn't, and her frown only intensified at his proposition.

"I said 'I dare you to kiss her'," Dallas repeated, nodding in the direction of Katie Matlin, who sat alone on the other side of the cafeteria. He shrugged to himself, keeping that cocky grin. Bianca groaned, hating the fact that the Torres brothers had chosen to become so close with such a jerk, forming a friendship which by obligation extended to herself. "It's not like she's _unattractive_."

In response, Bianca's eyes trailed down the former class president, who had only just recently donned the new gothic appearance. It was not so much an issue of attraction as it was an issue of not wanting to be mauled to death by Katie Matlin in the middle of the school cafeteria. Because, while she didn't exactly hate Katie, (the busted car mirror, she admitted she probably had coming) she knew the lukewarm pleasantries were far from being mutual.

"That's really the least of my concerns," Bianca replied, gathering a few odd looks from her table mates. Drew just stared at her with a mixture of exhilaration and unease. "She'll kill me if I so much as come near her, Dallas."

Her mind went back to the apparent black belt the Matlin girl owned and she involuntarily shivered; she would never admit that the other girl _actually_ frightened her. Just a little.

"A dare's a dare, Bee," Drew argued, and she groaned, knowing he was only still a little butthurt over having been dared to sneak _back _into Degrassi. Dodging Simpson past the school entrance had proved difficult, and he certainly was not about to let the dares go easy on anyone now that he had just barely managed to dodge past _that_ potential disaster. In his own words: Worst, dare, ever. "I mean, those _are_ the rules. That's why I snuck back into Degrassi!"

He said that last part a little too loud, and Adam had to put a hand over his mouth, matched by shifty eyes.

Running a palm frantically through her dark brown curls, Bianca shook her head. She looked to Adam for support as the only level-headed one at the table, but the boy just shrugged, muttering something about how 'he had to drink spoiled orange juice from the back of the cooler when it was his turn and would have much preferred to be the one dared to kiss Katie'.

"Ah, what the hell?" Never one to back down from a challenge, Bianca said, definitively smashing a closed fist into the table. The sudden shock seemed to rattle Drew out of his fantasy-induced coma.

Upon finally realizing what was happening, her boyfriend looked up with some look of horror, "Dude, that's my girlfriend."

"I know," Dallas replied, grinning widely. The Torres brothers exchanged their own stunned glances, but he just shrugged lamely. "What?"

Adam, the only actual gentleman at the table, frowned. "She's going to kill you when she gets back. You know that, right?"

• • •

_Just kiss her and run_. _Kiss, then run_. Bianca recited this to herself as she waded her way through the cafeteria, not feeling a lick of unease. Bianca DeSousa did not get uneasy, she got angry. And by the time, she had walked up to Katie Matlin, she was positively furious. She swallowed a big breath of air, eyes leering at the Matlin girl intensely.

"Katie." She stated with precision.

The other dark-haired girl turned, "Bi-"

And that was when she cut her off with her lips, firmly cupping Katie's face with two swift hands before the former redhead could regain the motor skills to slap her. She deepened the kiss, aggressively tilting the other girl downwards, carefully making sure they didn't completely topple over each other. When she was certain Katie would be too dizzy to smack her, she let her hands stray from Katie's cheeks to delve in her hair, musing it over and over again.

Starting to feel the effects of her own frenzy, she let her hands slide to down, sliding her own hands into Katie's.

She dropped Katie's hands suddenly, ambling a bit backwards; perhaps she had let it get a little bit out of hand. Either way, she just shrugged it off - she had fulfilled the dare and that was that. The curly-haired brunette twirled her whole body around in one motion, hoping to slip past without being caught in the impending explosion. Instead, she felt a sharp tug at her wrist and looked down to realize she was trapped by one daintily porcelain yet surprisingly robust grasp, with icy blue eyes staring at her.

_Crap, crap, crap. _She told herself, wriggling her fingers in a futile attempt to get away, but Katie's grip was far too powerful. She could only wriggle four of her fingers uselessly, hoping at one point it would tickle the black belt and make her loosen her intense grip. It didn't.

"Just make it quick, okay?" Bianca said, shutting her eyes and turning.

"What?" Katie asked, surprise tinting her voice.

Without hesitating, Bianca opened one eyelid. "You're going to hit me..."

"No...?" Katie replied, as if she was unsure herself. She let go of Bianca's wrist, lamely setting her own hands on the table. Bianca just stared at her, waiting for the drumbeat. Instead, Katie's eyebrows just knit together intensely.

_Well, that was odd_. Bianca thought, taking a step back. However, she decided it was best not to question _why_ Katie Matlin had suddenly decided to spare her and instead, take the gift she was offered and run.

Dashing back to the lunch table, she found the three lads were already laughing maniacally. Even Adam, however hard he tried to keep it together and act mature for her sake, couldn't contain that slight grin.

"Laugh it up, boys." She said, folding her arms at them. "But Dallas, you are going _down_."

"Down to Chinatown." Adam expanded as if it were the coolest thing to say in such circumstances.

"You dork." Drew just grinned and messed the top of his brother's head. It did nothing to falter his grin though, which was increasingly wider.

Taking her seat next to a grinning Adam, Bianca was already concocting her latest proposition that began with 'I dare you to'. No one really noticed the way Katie Matlin brought her fingers to her lips or how her usually intrepid gaze softened and lingered just a little longer on the curly-haired brunette than ever before...

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**Thanks for reading, guys. ****  
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	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thanks, for the people who reviewed on the first chapter - MrJamesileee, loveyoualways21 and the anon - and after much thought, I will continue this story as a multi-chapter fic. Partly to try and do justice to a pairing which hasn't received much attention on this site and to finish telling a story that I think should be shown in depth. Keep in mind, because it is a story about two people who currently despise each other and/or are in deep denial - this will be a long one.

So please, bear with me.

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**Chapter Two**

This time last year, Katie Matlin had everything - the presidency, the school newspaper, the inevitable soccer scholarship and Drew. Now, she was on the fast track to nowhere and the more she stared at her reflection in her locker mirror, the more she realized just how fast that track was. She wondered when everything changed. Of course, in her mind, she immediately traced it all back to Bianca DeSousa.

"I hate her, I hate her. I want to set all her clothes on fire and leave her in the desert to die from dehydration and maybe shingles."

"What was _that_?" Katie slammed her locker shut to find Marisol standing behind her with wide eyes. Alright, maybe the whole 'new' gothic persona thing had gotten a little out of hand.

"Bianca." Katie replied with a stern frown, clutching her books tighter. She wasn't yet ready to think the debacle that occurred at lunch, and certainly not ready to discuss the matter at length, even with Marisol. "Just thinking about her - that's all." Marisol crossed her arms, holding her breath for a better explanation. She would have to hold her breath a little longer. "Really."

"Well if you insist," Marisol said with a grin which the taller girl didn't return, too busy contemplating what had happened only a mere hour ago. Was Bianca DeSousa deliberately trying to get on her nerves? Her trance was only interrupted by Marisol rudely waving her hand in front of her face. "Are you alright, Katie?"

"Just peachy." The former student council president replied.

Swiftly tugging at her arm, Marisol just stopped her short from rampaging the halls. "Listen, I know you've been through a lot with soccer and the oxy and rehab, and to be honest, the last thing you need to be worrying about is Drew and Bianca." She linked their arms together, filling her role as 'best friend' quite nicely. "You have a new look and Jake," She nodded in the direction of her fellow senior, who was busy outside during his free period. He glanced up and waved, and Katie waved back, albeit half-heartedly. "And you're headed _somewhere_. Somewhere far away from little Miss DeSousa and her ridiculously strong grip on brainless men."

_Brainless men._ Katie let out a breath. Yes, Marisol was right; she really didn't need to be worrying about those two - maybe this track was fast, but it wasn't necessarily heading nowhere.

"I just need to stop _thinking_ about her." She muttered, and she wasn't quite sure if she was saying this to Marisol or herself. Katie bit into her lip, staring through the open door of the chem lab. "What are you doing here?" Katie's voice echoed.

Bianca looked up from the test tube rack, peering at the Matlin girl through a pair of dusty goggles, "Chemistry?" She asked, waiting for the drum beat. When whatever was supposed to register with Katie didn't, the curly-haired brunette looked up once more. "We're lab partners, remember? Well, actually we were a lab _group_ until Drew dropped out but it's an uneven number, we have stay as a pair."

Katie huffed, reluctantly taking her seat.

"Fine, but I'm not talking to you." Katie replied, turning her attention to the beaker in front of them with an intense gaze. She had spent nearly an hour without looking at the enemy, and she wasn't about to start now.

"Yeah, well... You're kind of doing a terrible job at it." Bianca quipped, waiting for the other girl to respond; she didn't, so Bianca returned to the beaker, measuring the time of the reaction. Clicking the stopwatch, she quickly made note of the duration and watched as Katie scribbled it down. Needless to say, the period carried on like this in silence until the final bell rang and Katie gathered her books, storming out the door before Bianca had even taken off her goggles.

"Ouch. Do I sense some tension?" Bianca whirled to find Dallas perched on the table behind her with that incredibly stupid grin of his.

Letting the goggles hang off her neck, Bianca smirked, "Listen up, Dallas we're _not_ friends. You're friends with Drew, I'm more than friends with Drew. That doesn't make us friends by extension. That doesn't make us anything by extension." Dallas just rolled his eyes, never one to taken rejection so lightly.

"And if I actually said I wanted us to be friends?"

"I'd have to pass." Bianca retorted, turning away. The last thing she needed was guy like him to hang around with. Dallas narrowed his eyes at her with some semblance of seriousness. His lips curled into a frown.

"I _dare_ you to go after her."

• • •

Angrily, Katie threw another pebble into the school fountain, watching as the still water began to ripple. She stared at the quivering waves with trepidation, soaking in how quickly the ripples formed formed from a single toss. She frowned - obviously she was giving this too much thought. Jake had left early to start training with his father for 'Martin and Son' and she was left, holding her knees to her body and staring at an otherwise dull fountain.

"Making a wish?" Katie shut her eyes, hating that she recognized that voice through the thundering noise of water falling and her own internal thoughts shouting at her from all directions. "Because I don't think you're doing it right."

"I thought I told you I wasn't talking to you." She bit down her lip when Bianca settled down beside her, crossing her knees on the pavement.

"Well, you're talking now, aren't you?" Bianca teased. It still amazed her, how incredibly nonchalant the girl could be about this. "Fine, then let me do the talking. First of all, I'm sorry." Katie couldn't help the laugh that formed - this was supposed to be a joke, right? "I knew you had a lot to worry about during rehab and putting some guy, even Drew, in front of another human being's well-being was stupid. And well, Drew didn't tell me that he slept with you-" Her eyebrows furrowed. "He can be...stupid too sometimes-"

"Tell me about it," Katie rolled her eyes.

Bianca let out a breath, folding her hands in her lap, "Tell me how I can make it up to you, so we can finally put this thing behind us."

Thoughtfully, Katie pursed her lips, her mind still reeling in the things she could say to make Bianca suffer just as much as she had. She stared at the rippling waters, the poetry of it whispering to her. Of course, her mind went back to that _incident,_ the instance that had driven her here in the first place.

"Why'd you kiss me?" Katie asked, noticing how quickly losing her poise.

"It was a dare." Bianca answered honestly, almost instantly regretting the admission when she noticed the way Katie balled her fists. But still, it occurred to her that Katie deserved the truth at the very least. "Actually going after you right now was kind of a dare too-"

"I knew it! This is just another act-" Katie shouted, standing up.

Bianca grabbed her wrist, the same way Katie had earlier by locking her in that intense grip. "It's not an act! Staying with you despite how frustratingly stubborn you're being isn't something I would do just for the hell of it!"

Katie's hand fell limp and Bianca released her porcelain wrist, watching in anticipation as the other girl folded her arms over her chest and spoke two simple words, "Prove it."

"How?" Bianca's mouth quirked.

"I dare you to dump your boyfriend."

"Now, you're being ridiculous." The brunette threw her hands into the air, huffing.

"Fine," Katie replied, whirling around. Her eyes locked onto the enormous fountain. "Lovely day for a swim, don't you think?"

"You're kidding." Bianca mouthed.

Katie just grinned. "Not at all."

It hadn't yet occurred to her that Bianca DeSousa would _actually_ follow through with it. Curiously she watched as Bianca took a tentative step into the shallow basin of water, before slipping her other foot in. She slid to the centerpiece, where water poured down over her like heavy rain. "Satisfied?" Bianca queried, completing sopping wet.

"Very."

And with that, the other girl slid away from the fountain, hoisting herself on the ledge. She shivered, her face still terribly flushed and her pinkish blouse clinging closely to her body. Katie's gaze softened slightly, and she maneuvered off her own dark-denim jacket, holding it out for the trembling girl begrudgingly.

"You'll catch pneumonia if you keep that on."

She stayed exactly long enough to watch the other girl shimmy out of her wet top, put on her dry jacket, and button it up before she turned in the other direction, wordlessly storming off. Bianca blinked, clutching the warm denim against her cold skin. One moment, the girl was demanding that she get sopping wet, the next she was doing everything to keep her dry.

She never did quite get Katie Matlin.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thank you again to all the readers and reviewers! Your continued interest is the reason why this story is must be written.

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**Chapter 3**

Katie Matlin had never taken the issue of kissing lightly. Even kissing Jake as a rebound proved too overwhelming, and as such, she had broken down halfway into the kiss and he sat there dumbfounded, handing her a carton of eggs. Her first kiss with Drew had been a little nicer – at least no one broke down in tears then, and it certainly wasn't as awkward.

And then there was Bianca.

Her third kiss.

The only kiss that had made her feel so...

Terrified.

What felt like hours must have only been a few seconds with her own chaste lips pressed against Bianca's hurried ones. Bianca's touch was calculated, light but effective and extremely..._tantalizing_, which was an adjective that terrified her the second it crossed her min,d and she realized she had used it in regards to the curly-haired vixen. By comparison, she felt herself grow awkward as her own suddenly lanky arms wiggled lifelessly. Bianca had barely given her enough time to breathe.

In the pit of her stomach – only in the slightest way, of course - she had felt an urge to touch the girl in front of her, to reciprocate just a little. Only for a split though, because Bianca was a girl…And she was straight…

Yes, completely straight.

She shivered, recalling Bianca's lips and blamed the phenomenon on the wind. _Drat_, she really shouldn't have given the brunette her jacket. It was the middle of January and the ground was frozen over for fuck's sake! Her cheeks were turning rose-colored in the icy white weather. _Bianca._

Her body reacted, the heat (clearly, anger) taking over her body. Her heart was racing now, as she stamped down the street across from the school, bundling herself tightly with her bare arms. Marisol was right - she certainly needed to get Bianca off her mind. _Damn it, Bianca._

Rightly flustered, she hadn't even told Marisol about that 'incident', despite the fact that probably half the cafeteria had seen what had happened and were no doubt gossiping about it. And if she had, Marisol probably would have many questions, which for the moment she didn't really feel like getting into right now.

Walking home now, she ran her fingers through the darkness which replaced her slight copper curls, counting the moments between her thoughts of the girl she hated with a desperate passion and the kiss that had literally left her speechless.

All the while insisting that she – Katie Matlin – was completely and utterly straight.

• • •

"It's not raining, is it?" Adam had asked, looking the drenched girl up and down the moment she had stumbled through the door and kicked her shoes off against the front door.

"No." Bianca grumbled in a low tone, and Mike Dallas finally looked up from his sports magazine from the Torres kitchen table, nearly laughing. She ran her fingers through her tangled, sopping hair until she finally decided it was loss cause to fumble with her hands and retrieved a comb from her bag. Racing it through her dark hair, she sighed.

"Katie just got me wet –"

The words registered instantly. Turning red, Bianca raised a hand before Dallas could make some ludicrous implication. "In the fountain, she got me wet in the fountain." Adam was staring at her now, with a raised eyebrow, and she felt her cold and clammy skin grow hot with embarrassment as the hole she had dug herself into deepened. "Her weird way of getting even...for everything."

"Okay…" Adam said his eyebrow still so incredibly high that she was afraid it would fly off his face at any given moment. "And…?"

"And what?" She shot back.

"Did it work, hotshot?" Mike Dallas interjected, and it occurred to her that this was probably the best nickname he had given her since he started living under the Torres' roof. It was certainly better than 'Drew's Girlfriend' and 'That Girl who Lives Here'.

She must've been grinning because she suddenly felt her features being pulled into a frown.

"It better have," Bianca groaned, trudging upstairs with a sort of pout. Her hair was a mess, and she refused to believe that such damage had been done without viable cause. In silence, the two boys exchanged glances sheepishly.

"Girls are weird." Adam finally said, still a little dazed and Dallas nodded in agreement. "Want to play Black Ops?" The shorter boy asked, wondering if Dallas was half as terrible at the game as his brother Drew was. The two Torres duo never could manage to get past the fifth level. Mike grinned, making his way to the couch next to the other boy, who handed him a controller.

Dallas rubbed his chin shortly after Adam had blown the first entry boss to smithereens on the electric screen and shouted 'Booyah!'. "You know, you're alright, Little Torres."

• • •

"That would kill the budget." Marisol replied the next morning in response to Fiona's latest inquiry about 'proper ways to allocate the student council budget to finance technical upgrades for the drama department. Fiona just pouted, leaning into the lockers slightly. Marisol rolled her eyes. "The fact that you're blatantly trying to find ways to pour our already meager budget into letting your girlfriend know that you support her never ceases to astound me."

Fiona just shrugged, poking Marisol slightly. "Love makes you do stupid things, Prez."

"And you would be the queen of that department." Marisol grinned slightly and Katie raised her eyebrows, realizing for the first time how much things had changed since she had been in rehab. Fiona and Marisol were friends, or at least friendly, all because she wasn't there to direct the Frostival. And while it was one thing to not see them about to tear into each other's hair, it was a whole other thing to see them actually being amicable to each other.

"Wait." She thought aloud, turning rather suddenly. "You and Imogen are dating?"

Marisol swiveled slightly, peering at the other girl as if to mentally ask 'Wasn't that obvious?'. Realizing that she had said that rather loudly in the hallways, Katie felt her face flush, and she hastily tried to correctly herself. "I, um, just didn't know she was into girls or, um…" She trailed off, feeling still a little awkward for being so far out of the loop.

"She didn't either." Fiona said frankly, eliciting a subconscious nod from the former student council president. Not that she understood that or anything. Certainly not.

"How could she_ not_ know?" Immediately, she felt her cheeks grow rose-colored. It was perhaps not the most tactful way to put things, but she gotten her point across. Katie stared at her nervously, but to her surprise the brunette just let out a laugh - that ever so coy, Fiona-esque laugh - and brought a hand lightly to Katie shoulders.

"Well, maybe it's not so much an issue of not knowing it." Fiona replied, catching her breath. "Maybe, it's more of an issue of not exactly _seeing_ it."

"Not _seeing_ it..." Katie felt her breath hitch in her throat, the cause of which she could not (for the life of her) ascertain. Hands gripped her backpack straps tightly, legs felt a little heavier, her muscles tensed. In fact, she hardly recalled that familiar clicking of heels against the cold, porcelain floor. But she recognized the tensing of her body and the sound of the voice that rang in her ears all week.

"Hey." The voice sounded.

Katie whirled to find no one other than that curly-haired brunette staring at her. She felt her body stiffen as well as Marisol's do the same behind her.

Before either could say anything, the DesSousa girl reached into the dark backpack flung at her sides and pulled out her camo jacket, which had been clearly mended at the pockets. It had been through the laundry and dried only recently, Katie noticed too, the soft scent of detergent that drifting from the dark cotton. Bianca held it in front of her and nodded. "Thanks."

This small gesture was odd; it was kind and shy - words she had never attributed to the girl before.

"Um," Katie replied, biting down her bottom lip as she clumsily brushed Bianca's fingers and snatched the article of clothing away, holding it in her arms. Promptly, she wrapped the still-warm fabric over her shoulders and shifted just a little. She looked up, her unusually soft gaze sharpening once more as her eyes met Bianca's. "Whatever." She said despondently, willing the other girl to go.

And thankfully, the DeSousa girl did.

Fiona's eyes travelled between the two of them closely, until suddenly she spread her crimson lips just slightly enough to reveal the smallest smile. Fiona said then, just barely audible. "Wow, tension much?"

Marisol frowned and said plainly. "It's Bianca and Katie. Of course, there's tension."

"Oh, _of course_," Fiona forced the corners of her mouth into an even more unnerving smile, tapping her sides lightly with the pads of her fingers. The other brunette did a little head tilt, raising an eyebrow at the same time. "Nothing you need to concern yourself about." Fiona muttered, clutching her books closer to her chest as she lead the way down the halls. "I just had a feeling was all."

And the heiress left it at that, never mentioning how crimson and silent the Matlin girl next to them had suddenly fallen or how that same Matlin girl was still clinging closely to the jacket Bianca DeSousa had just handed her. No, she didn't need to mention it just then.

It was only a matter of time.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Ah, gosh. I'm sorry, guys. _Months_ is far too long for an update. But hopefully, I can start posting somewhat regularly again.

Keep in mind that this story is pre-Las Vegas. So Katie and Jake are still together and Drew hasn't returned to school. Campbell was also supposed to play a big part in this story; he was actually one of my favorite characters from season 12 and the end of Bittersweet Symphony made it hard for me to continue this fic with him in mind.

Nonetheless, I hope you can forgive this long note and the fact that I waited so long to post this and can enjoy following this story's journey. Thanks.

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**Chapter 4**

The Matlin girl had always proved somewhat of an enigma for Bianca. One moment she was civil, or at least trying to be civil; the next she was practically screaming at her. And then there was something in-between. Like now, for instance, she seemed to have taken a vow of silence against her.

"You know, we're lab partners. I think we should at least learn to talk to each other about the experiment."

There was no response and Bianca frowned, watching Katie mixing chemicals unflinchingly. Was she invisible? Faintly, she gave her head a little shake as the other girl began heating the prescribed chemicals. Since Drew had dropped out, their lab group had been effectively reduced from a tense awkward love triangle to a very tense awkward love triangle minus Drew.

And it was all very discomfiting to say the least.

Even now, Katie's gaze hardly shifted as she reached for the tongs right next to the usually hot-tempered brunette. Bianca crossed her arms. _Is it really that difficult to look me, Katie? _She felt herself expel a breath explosively. "You're impossible."

The Matlin girl's face was turning red, positively crimson, and Bianca assumed it had something to do with either the chemical mixture or anger. She couldn't be too sure which though.

Actively annoyed, Bianca exasperated a sigh. "Why aren't you talking to me? I thought we were just starting to put this whole thing behind us."

Still nothing on the other side of the conversation.

"You know, I'm actually trying to be friends with you here. And if you just took a moment to appreciate that and stopped acting like a completely absurd-" Her voice died in her throat as she watched the other girl push herself up against the counter, the glass beaker falling to the ground with a clatter and her hair barely grazing the open flame.

"_Friends_?" Breaking her first rule of silence, Katie brought her gaze up from the chemical compounds. Her intense icy blue eyes shot up, but Bianca just held her own stance, keeping the other girl's gaze. "You're trying? Well then, how selfish of me! Because _you're_ trying to be friends, never mind how you stole my boyfriend _right_ as I was starting to get better. Or that you actually think I actually want to–"

"Katie!" Bianca shouted, reaching for the bucket of water primarily used by janitorial staff. She stared at the girl she's just drenched from head to foot. These days, at least one of them was getting drenched. "Er, you were on fire."

"Okay, I know for a fact that you did that on purpose."

"Of course I did it on purpose, you were on fire!" Bianca insisted, though such insistence was met with an unyielding glare.

With that, the former redhead snatched up her book bag from under the table and stormed out of class theatrically. Bianca pursed her lips, and from the corner of her eyes saw Dallas leaning over the watered down mess of a lab table.

He stared at the Desousa girl frankly.

"Smooth."

• • •

"I know she was the one who set my hair on fire." Katie interjected suddenly, and felt Jake groan beside her on the couch. He wondered why she always had to interrupt movie night like this. _ET_ was a classic, despite Katie's insistence that it wasn't romantic enough for a movie night with one's girlfriend.

"We haven't even started making out yet." Jake said, cocking his head to the side coyly, hoping that it would have some sort of effect on her to simmer down. Frustrated, Katie pushed off the couch with her palms._ Boys_, she thought to herself with some mild lingering contempt.

"You know, she somehow always manages to make my blood boil."

"So, you've told me." Grinning, the moppy-haired boy propped himself against the armrest, pressing his knuckles against his cheek. She was about to go into all out _Bianca_ _Rant_ mode, and he knew there was no stopping that once it was already so far along.

"It was completely deliberate."

"Completely. Must've been planning that one for years." Jake agreed placidly, though something about the tone of his voice told her that he meant otherwise. After a few hours, she finally simmered down and returned to her spot on the Matlin couch.

"I think you talk about her more than you talk about me." He muttered, watching as she made her way back to the couch and plopped down next to him. "Should I be jealous?"

She grinned, shaking his hand lightly on his knee. "Not at all."

"Mom says Jake has to go now," A high-pitched voice squeaked from the top of the stares and the two of them groan.

Her boyfriend taps her lightly on the nose, murmuring a quiet 'see ya' before disappearing out the Matlin's front door. The screech of his dad's truck blares in the street and she shakes her head; he really ought to get that thing scrapped. Behind her, she can feel her sister's probing gaze.

"You know, Jake's right, you do talk way too much about Bianca."

The younger girl smiled and the older sneered. The former returned to the phone in her hands and began diligently texting, most likely about the antics of her bat shit insane older sister.

"Who are you texting?"

"Uh, no one." The blonde Matlin said unconvincingly and with that, she sauntered away upstairs, with some cello music blaring just as loud.

• • •

"It's imperative that you at least try to get on good terms with her." Dallas told her at lunch the following day in a voice that sounded very much like a gym teacher. Was he training her for the Olympics and she just didn't know about it yet?

"Wow." Was all she could say with genuine surprise.

"Yeah, I can be thoughtful." Pleased with himself, the hockey captain said, with a slight grin.

"No, I just didn't know you knew what the word 'imperative' meant." For this, he glared at her, though it really had no effect on the girl who spent much of her time glaring at people. "How am I supposed to 'get on good terms' with her if she won't even talk to me? She's impossible."

Dallas shot her a look that said quite frankly _'she's not the only one'_. Though he had seen yesterday's debacle with the fire and the bucket – and she certainly saw herself as the victim in this whole scenario – he seemed to have already sided firmly on Team Matlin. How infuriating.

"She's not that bad." Dallas responded, trying to sound as civil as possible with the second most stubborn girl at Degrassi. For the most part it was true, he knew Katie had been down about not being able to play soccer and he had once been keen to help her. Though that whole debacle hadn't ended in the _greatest _way, he did feel a little bad about his hockey team trashing Jake's garden…Sue him for having feelings.

"Uhuh," Bianca nodded absently. This conversation with the hockey head had gotten a little stale and so, she pushed herself past him and vanished where she knew he wouldn't follow her. _The girl's bathroom. _

She, however, was not counting on the miniature hockey player waiting on the other side of that door.

"Hey, I was looking for you." The boy chirped, as he leaned by the sinks and her eyes nearly bulged out her head. "Er, Campbell Saunders." He introduces himself, sticking his hand out properly.

"I know who you are, Saunders." She said regaining her composure and briefly recalled the time she had found him crying in the girl's bathroom. Actually, it might have been this very bathroom. She kept her stone-cold look, crossing her arms over her chest, making the sophomore sheepishly retract his hand.

"Right," He said, shaking his head. "I need your advice."

"What? Why _my _advice?" She muttered, wondering when she had become the type of girl people came to with their problems. Last year hadn't she been the girl people spent all day trying to avoid? Not waiting for in the girl's bathroom for her to show up?

His face fell a little though when she pointed this out, and she watched as he stammered out this next part.

"Please, you're like one of the only people who's been nice to me in Toronto."

"Nice?" She asked the one-word question but before she can muster anything snippy to say, he nods affirmatively as said 'nice.' Caught a little off guard with the sentiment, she breathed a heavy sigh and leaned against the back wall with her elbows. "Fine, Saunders –"

At that exact moment, the bathroom door pushed open and some freshman with very dark curls came in and stared at them both with rather large eyes. The freshman's mouth opened, then closed, then opened again.

"Can't you see we're busy having a conversation here?" Bianca sniped at the same time Campbell said 'Hey Tori'. Needless to say, the freshman disappeared behind those doors just as quickly as she had opened them, this time a little actively scared.

"Speak." Bianca commanded the nervous boy.

"So, there's this _girl_ –" He started rambling a little.

"There always is." Bianca interjected.

"She's wonderful –"

"They always are."

"She has an insane sister."

"They always do?" Bianca uncrossed her arms. Nope, she hadn't expected that one.

"She doesn't exactly approve of me dating her." The boy said, ruffling his dark-brown hair a little. Leaning with her elbows against the edge of the sink, he frowned a little seriously.

A beat skips between them and she realizes that perhaps she should be getting to the whole 'giving advice part' right away instead of you know, amusing herself with the semantics.

"Go for it anyway." She offered plainly. He might've asked her 'what?,' she couldn't tell with the way he nearly sputtered it out but she explained anyway. "Finding someone you actually care about can be tough. Take it from the girl who never lets anyone bring down her walls, when you find someone worth caring for, you have to take that chance on them. Regardless of what everyone else says. That's what I hope the person you care about would want you to do, anyway. So, screw the sister."

"Huh." He mustered, pushing himself off the edge of the sink. Thoughtfully, he nodded to himself as if this is what he wanted to hear all along. "You're right, thanks. That is exactly what Maya would want me to do."

"Exactly –" The dark-haired girl began as if she was so used to being always right, instead she stops halfway through the sentence and stares at the boy in the oversized hockey jersey intently.

"Wait, Maya? As in Matlin?" She hollered, though he was already halfway out the door. The door slammed shut with some authority and she stared at it as if doing so would rewind time. In short, it didn't.

She ran a hand through her frenzied black hair. "Ah, crap."

Well, at least now she wouldn't have any trouble getting Katie to say something to her – she just wasn't so sure she was going to _like_ what it was...


End file.
